Study On The InternationalLegal Rules Regarding Marine Protected Areas In The Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction

About 71%of the earth’s surface area is covered by sea waters,and roughly two-thirds of the sea areas are beyond the national jurisdiction(hereinafter ABNJ).With the completion of confirming maritime rights within the area of national jurisdiction and the gradual deterioration of the global marine ecology and environment,conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity in ABNJ has become a focal point concerned and discussed widely.As an integrated "in situ conservation" marine management tool based on the ecosystem,marine protected areas(hereinafter MPAs)have been put into practice extensively by the international community,regional organizations and relevant countries.Meanwhile,regional legal system is gradually improving with the development of practice.Currently,Pelagos Sanctuary for Mediterranean marine mammals,South Orkney Islands Southern Shelf MPAs and the Atlantic high seas MPAs networks have been already established.There exists an irreconcilable contradiction between high seas MPAs and the legal concept of freedom of high seas.However,high seas MPAs conforms to the trend that expanding the obligations to protect the marine resources and environment of modern international law of the sea.The establishment of high seas MPAs depends upon profound theory of international law and rich areas exploration experiences.The practice development of regional high seas MPAs promotes the legislative process of regional conventions in the field of international law.Accordingly,legislative perfection provides a direct international legal basis for the establishment and management of the corresponding high seas MPAs.Under the existing framework of international law,there exists legislative gap about the legal attributes of biological resources in international seabed area.Therefore,the international community has fierce debates about whether the biological resources belong to the common heritage of mankind and how to exploit and manage those biological resources.However,the universal view of theory is that all resources including biological resources in international seabed area should be applied to the principle of common heritage of mankind,and excluding the application of the legal system of freedom of high seas.The coastal states and international organizations have actively participated in the description practice,and the core concern is ecologically or biologically significant marine areas.Once the MPAs in international seabed area is set up,it will undoubtedly trigger a profound change and impact on the current related exploration and utilization activities in international seabed area.To solve the unprecedented difficulties in the construction of MPAs beyond national jurisdiction,it is a relatively feasible idea to constantly improve the regional system and then build a global framework under the coordination and cooperation of international community.China should appropriately maintain the correct negotiating position and operation strategy towards the issue of MPAs beyond national jurisdiction,thus avoiding the negative impact of the MPAs system China to the greatest extent,ultimately achieving the goal that fully safeguarding China’s maritime rights and interests beyond national jurisdiction.